Roll-up doors are ubiquitous. These doors are commonly found in garages, industrial buildings, and on trucks, trailers, and other vehicles. In such doors, a pair of inwardly-facing inverted L-shaped tracks are typically mounted on a body (i.e., a static structure or the body of a vehicle). A plurality of series-connected panels are operatively mounted for guided articulated movement along the tracks between a lowered substantially-vertical position closing the access opening, and then overhead substantially-horizontal out-of-the-way position.
In some cases, the door, when moved to its closed position, is lockable to a keeper provided on the sill. In other situations, it is desirable to provide a lock between the side(s) of one or more panels and the adjacent jamb(s).
One form of such a side lock has heretofore taken the shape of a butterfly-type latch mounted on the door and selectively engagable with a keeper mounted on the proximate jamb. Such prior art latch typically had a lower cam surface that was adapted to engage the keeper for automatically displacing the latch to an out-of-the way position when the door was lowered. Such latch also had an upper cam surface that was adapted to pass beneath the keeper when the door was closed. This upper cam surface was outwardly- and upwardly-inclined in order that the closed door would be self-tightening during relative vibration between the panels and the jamb. While this inclined upper cam surface was clearly desired to provide the self-tightening feature, its engagement with the keeper also provided a type of inclined plane or wedge. Hence, an intruder could insert an appropriate lever, such as a crowbar or the like, beneath the door, and pry the door upwardly. Upon information and belief, and depending upon the angle of inclination of the upper cam surface, the door would fail (i.e., could be opened by the intruder) by bowing the jamb and proximate portion of the body outwardly in order to permit the latch to pass thereby.
Accordingly, there is believed to be a need for an improved side lock, which is particularly adapted for use in trucks, trailers and other vehicles, which will provide an effective locking mechanism, and which will prevent the door from being defeated by a would-be intruder applying leverage beneath the door.